By Michael S. Derby and Howard Schneider
WASHINGTON, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said on Thursday he is leaning toward keeping interest rates steady at the U.S. central bank's policy meeting this month if the next batch of inflation data shows price pressures are continuing to moderate.
Pointing to the importance of "what we learn" about inflation data for August, Waller told a Reuters NEXT Newsmaker event in Washington that "if there is continued progress toward our 2% goal, then I am willing to support holding the policy rate at its current level."
"I'm going to paraphrase John Lennon here. Give disinflation a chance" and refrain from prematurely raising rates to allow a cooling process to play out, Waller said. In terms of that patience, "I'm not going to say let's wait until next year, but let's just wait and see if we get some improvement on this."
Waller, however, said the data could also move in a way that would lead him to argue that the Fed needs to take action to control price pressures at its September 15-16 policy meeting.
#inflation
WASHINGTON, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said on Thursday he is leaning toward keeping interest rates steady at the U.S. central bank's policy meeting this month if the next batch of inflation data shows price pressures are continuing to moderate.
Pointing to the importance of "what we learn" about inflation data for August, Waller told a Reuters NEXT Newsmaker event in Washington that "if there is continued progress toward our 2% goal, then I am willing to support holding the policy rate at its current level."
"I'm going to paraphrase John Lennon here. Give disinflation a chance" and refrain from prematurely raising rates to allow a cooling process to play out, Waller said. In terms of that patience, "I'm not going to say let's wait until next year, but let's just wait and see if we get some improvement on this."
Waller, however, said the data could also move in a way that would lead him to argue that the Fed needs to take action to control price pressures at its September 15-16 policy meeting.
#inflation
2 months ago
